Hollywood Jock: 365 Days, Four Screenplays, Three TV Pitches, Two Kids, and One Wife Who's Ready to Pull the Plug

Although the conceit for Ryder's sloppily entertaining book is to cover one year in his life—at the end of which he was determined to decide whether or not to just quit Hollywood and find a real job—there's no real drama awaiting readers at the end, as it's perfectly clear he'll never leave this life. Ryder's a semijock and gifted scrounger who's been making a living in the nexus of film, journalism and sport since the mid-1970s, experiencing everything from getting whacked with a baseball bat on the set of The Warriors to serving as technical consultant on sports films like White Men Can't Jump . The weekly "Hollywood Jock" columns he wrote for ESPN.com, detailing his daily hustle of pushing new projects and trying to keep the money rolling in, are the bulk of Ryder's book. While professional freelancers will likely be uplifted by Ryder's braggadocio and impressive ability to cadge a small paycheck out of seemingly every random wrinkle in his life, readers looking for the true inside dope on celebrity and athletes won't find much to gawk at. (July)